


Dirt and Sunshine

by lfvoy



Series: Aftermath [2]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-13
Updated: 2011-10-13
Packaged: 2017-10-24 13:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/264155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lfvoy/pseuds/lfvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Introspection isn’t Zoë's way, but neither is the idea of living dirtside. After an experience like Miranda, it can help to stop and re-evaluate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dirt and Sunshine

Zoë hoisted herself through the upper hatch and onto _Serenity_ ‘s skin. The metal was so hot that she wondered why it wasn’t glowing. She kept her hands moving for fear of burning them, and decided to squat instead of sit. At least her boots had thick soles. How could the other woman stand it?

“Heat feels good,” said River without opening her eyes. “Different than the cold.”

“You think it’s cold on _Serenity_?”

“Has to be most of the time. Cold fingers always reaching in from the outside, leeches from the black. Takes too much power to beat them back completely.” She tipped her head back, eyes still closed. “Leeches don’t like the sun.”

“Maybe they’re on to something. Sweetie, you’re going to burn up if you don’t come back inside. How long have you been sunbathing up here?”

“Long enough to get warm. Time to turn over anyway.” Stretching, River finally opened her eyes and sat up, exposing the cooling mat underneath her. There was also a bottle of skin protector. Zoë realized the child wasn’t being as foolish as she might have looked.

“I don’t look good in red,” River soberly informed her.

“I can believe that. You all set up to leave soon as the Captain gets back?”

“Willing. Waiting.”

She decided to take that as a yes.

“It’s a yes,” clarified River, who was now lying on her stomach. “Just want to get as much heat into my skin as I can. Store it up for when we’re not under the sun.” She flipped her hair forward to expose her neck. “Don’t know when we’ll be back. We sniff the air, we don’t kiss the dirt.”

“We’ll be back dirtside soon enough.”

“But not home.” River turned her head to look at Zoë. “We’re home here. But _Serenity_ ‘s homesick.”

Zoë had no idea how to respond to that, but she figured it was as good a time as any to go back inside. The heat had found its way through her soles.

* * *

She had been born vesselside. The longest time she’d ever spent on a planet was the six months they’d been on Hera, and that was a time she didn’t care to remember that well.

In her quarters, Zoë stripped herself down to her underwear and opened the sink so she could wash the sweat off her skin. She didn’t look at herself in the mirror; rather, her eyes fell on a dinosaur draped over one corner. She winced. Apparently she’d missed that one when she had packed them up.

Wash had spread those things everywhere, as if he wanted to make sure no one forgot that he was on _Serenity_. After she’d finished washing, she took it down and got the box with the rest of the dinosaurs out from underneath her bunk.

She’d put them back out someday, she knew. But not right now.

Sliding the box back into its place, Zoë looked around at her quarters. Their quarters. She didn’t really know what to call them now, but it didn’t matter. She found herself smiling at the wall hangings, the knickknacks, a crazy-quilt rug that Wash had found somewhere and put down despite her protests. He’d insisted that it would match everything else, and to her surprise it had.

He did love making himself at home.

Sighing, she picked up a string of beads that had found its way onto the bed table and started to put it away. But then she stopped and looked at the beads. Hiroko had strung these, back on Haven, and presented them to her with considerable seriousness. Wash, who’d had just a little too much of the local brew at the time, had thought it incredibly funny. She’d poked him in the ribs, offered a smile and lavished praise on the gift.

Later, he’d waxed poetic about settling down and starting a farm there. She’d laughed; neither of them knew how to farm. But, she realized now, he did have one thing right: Haven had started to feel like a home port.

Zoë closed her eyes and swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. Haven was gone. _Serenity_ had no home port.

* * *

Later, after they’d taken off, she found the Captain down in the cargo bay, sitting on the catwalk overlooking the boxes and bags they’d taken on at Bellerophon. His legs dangled off the edge and he seemed to be lost in thought.

Not breaking the silence, Zoë leaned on the railing next to him, waiting.

“Something on your mind, Zoë?”

“You grew up on a planet,” she said, not knowing where to begin. Introspection wasn’t her strong suit.

“Shadow was a moon.”

“Near enough. What was it like? Living dirtside, I mean. Not your family, not unless you want to talk about that.”

He twisted around to look at her. “You feeling all right? Never thought I’d hear you ask something like that.”

She shrugged. “Just curious. Wondering what it’s like to see sunshine instead of starlight.”

He looked at her face for a long time and then indicated the edge of the catwalk. “Have a seat. I’ll see what I can remember.”


End file.
